To be fair to Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake LaRavia, just about every player on the roster who was not a new signee or named Luka Doncic was tabbed as a trade candidate this summer. The Lakers were trying hard to find an upgrade at power forward, and because they have a slew of $4 million-$6 million contracts on the books–plus Jarred Vanderbilt at $12 million–the only way to make a real move would have been to put together different combinations of those contracts.
Thus, Vanderbilt, LaRavia, Jaden Hardy and Dalton Knecht were the players most frequently run through the trade rumor mill this summer, and no doubt, the Lakers discussed deals involving all four. That was not easy for LaRavia, who admitted he had a dropoff last season.
Jake LaRavia Has ‘Individual Goals’
LaRavia was not bad for the Lakers last year, averaging 8.2 points and 4.0 rebounds on 45.9% shooting but just 32.1% 3-point shooting. But he acknowledged he was inconsistent, and the Lakers need more if he is going to maintain a spot in the rotation–and not be put no the trade market again.
LaRavia acknowledged that this week and noted that, individually, he had a productive summer.
He told reporters, “I have my own individual goals I have to go out and do every day. And if I check those boxes, it was a good day for me and if not, then it wasn’t up to my standards. I think I had a great training camp from the mindset perspective and what I had going into it. And from what I worked on this summer bringing that into training camp, I thought I did a really good job. So, I was very happy with the way it went.”
Lakers ‘Committed to Same Goal’
On a team level, LaRavia said this Lakers camp has been the best he has been a part of in the NBA, and credited coach JJ Redick and general manager Rob Pelinka for defining player roles out of the gate. LaRavia is a candidate to be the team’s starter at power forward.
He said: “I just feel like how committed everyone is, obviously, this Is a very new group of people on this team and it seems like everyone is committed to the same goal. RP and JJ have kind of talked to us about what they’re wanting from us this year, and I think everyone has bought in and willing to sacrifice what it is for us to succeed.”
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